(July 19, 2024 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution opened their series with the Lexington Legends on Friday night in a game that ended up being a nailbiter. York (51-24) managed to hold on, stifling a late Lexington rally to win 7-6 at WellSpan Park one game after concluding a seven-game winning streak.
Colton Welker delivered the excitement early, blasting a three-run home run over the batter’s eye in center field, a 435-foot shot for his 11th of the season spotting York a 3-0 lead three batters into the first inning.
Matt Bottcher started the second inning for Lexington by working a 15-pitch walk against York starter Jon Olsen. After stealing second, Bottcher notched Lexington’s first run on a Mikey Reynolds two-out single to right.
Michael Berglund doubled to lead off York’s half of the second inning and eventually scored on a double play to put York up 4-1.
The Legends started the fourth inning with three hard hit singles off of Olsen, the third being an RBI by JT Riddle to cut their deficit to 4-2. Right fielder Donovan Casey prevented another run when he fired a missile to nail Pedro Gonzalez at the plate attempting to score on a fly out.
The bottom of the fifth inning saw a scary scene when Welker fell to the ground after completing a swing on a flyout to deep center and was helped off of the field via a cart.
After threatening in both the fourth and fifth innings but not scoring, York finally broke through to pad the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Berglund drove in a run with a single but was cut down trying to take second on a throw to the plate. With two outs, Alfredo Reyes and Alexis Pantoja both reached on singles, and both scored when Matt McDermott dropped a two-run double into shallow right field, extending the lead to 7-2.
Olsen cruised through a 1-2-3 seventh inning with a pair of strikeouts.
In the eighth, Korry Howell (3-for-4) led off the frame with a double off of the Nemesis. Olsen got a flyout and punchout, but Bottcher came through again for the Legends with his third hit of the night, this time a double to score Howell and chase Olsen (8-1) from the game.
Denny Bentley relieved him, and it only took two pitches to get out of the inning when Berglund threw out Bottcher trying to advance to third on a ball in the dirt.
The Legends loaded the bases with one out against closer Brett Schulze and scored a run on a wild pitch. Luis Hernandez knocked in a run with a single off of the Nemesis before Howell walked to again load the bases in a 7-5 game. Lexington scored another run on a groundout, before yet another walk to Kole Cottam loaded the bases. With the lead slashed to 7-6, York turned to Frankie Bartow who retired Bottcher (3-for-4) for the first time all night, getting a game ending ground ball to second base for his fourth save as the Revs held on for the win in the series opener.
York will look for the series win on Saturday night when they send Zach Neff (5-4) to the hill against Lexington’s Justin Miller (1-5) at 6:30 p.m. The night features Post-Game Fireworks presented by PA Lottery. It is Penn State Night presented by Shipley Energy featuring an appearance by Beau Pribula, and it is Shipley Energy Customer Appreciation Night. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
Notes: Rudy Martin Jr stole his league leading 51st base, bringing him four shy of the franchise single-season record set by Wilson Valdez (2014) and Darien Sanford (2021). McDermott came a home run shy of the cycle and became the league’s first to 100 hits on the season (now 102). Olsen threw 92 pitches for 73 strikes, striking out seven while walking one. He entered the start with a league high 6.75 K/BB ratio. His 7.2 innings established a new career-high while his eighth win tied teammate Ethan Lindow and two others for the league lead. Casey extended his league high on-base streak to 32 games with a third inning walk but lost his 13-game hit streak; his 31-game streak entering the game was tied with Long Island’s Jackie Bradley Jr for the longest (Bradley’s streak was also active entering the day). Welker now has a 14-game hitting streak; he now has 23 extra-base hits including nine home runs with 44 RBI over his last 28 games. Schulze was charged with three runs after working scoreless ball in each of his first four appearances. The Revs’ bullpen had allowed just two runs in 27 innings over the previous six games. York played error-free defense for the seventh consecutive game, their longest streak since 2019 and two games shy of matching a club record.